The state of Iowa will have to answer for a provision in one of its many arcane job licensing laws. Finally. On Tuesday, the Institute for Justice, a Washington, D.C.-based civil liberties interest group, filed a lawsuit in Polk County. The defendant: The Iowa Board of Cosmetology Arts & Sciences and all its volunteer board members appointed by Gov. Terry Branstad. The plaintiffs: Two women who simply want to earn money braiding hair.

The complaint alleges a state law requiring hair braiders to obtain a cosmetology license violates the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1871 and the Iowa Constitution. The bottom line: The law is wrong.

Lawsuit filed over African-style hair braiding business rights

Braiding hair involves no chemicals and poses no health risk to customers. Yet in Iowa, you must obtain a state-issued license to perform the task. That means spending thousands of dollars and 2,100 hours at a for-profit beauty school that is not even required to teach hair braiding and probably doesn't. It means paying licensing fees, participating in continuing education and answering to a citizen board granted authority by the state to strip you of your license. The requirement on hair braiding is just one of many unreasonable licensing laws that prevent Iowans from finding work and opening businesses. It is the epitome of overzealous, burdensome government regulations. And it disproportionately affects minorities.

Aicheria Bell(Photo: Special to the Register/Institute for Justice)

For more than two years the Register's editorial board has encouraged state leaders to reform our job licensing laws, including those related to hair braiding. An Iowan who wants to work massaging necks, interpreting sign language, performing manicures or offering numerous other services must fulfill sometimes ridiculous requirements to secure a license from one of about three dozen state-sanctioned boards. And Iowa leads the country in these job-killing shenanigans. One-third of our workforce must obtain a government license to work, according to a July report on occupational licensing from the Obama administration. This is a higher percentage than any other state and three times higher than some states.

Yet state lawmakers and the governor have refused to act. Now the state is being sued.

One of the plaintiffs, Achan Agit, first learned to braid hair when she was 5 years old. Born in Sudan, she fled her home country in 2001 to escape civil war, arriving in the United States in 2004. She learned to speak English while braiding in other states, moved to Des Moines, saved her money and opened her own salon. But her dreams were shattered by Iowa law.

Agit could not even apply for a cosmetology license because she didn't complete high school. She closed the business and now braids hair out of her home in exchange for goods such as diapers and food. Yet she still risks getting in trouble with authorities. For each "offense" of braiding hair without a license in Iowa, she could be fined $1,000.

"She believes that owning her own braiding salon would provide her with more reliable and steady work. She could also advertise her services and grow her business, which would help her family have greater financial security and stability," according to the lawsuit.

The other plaintiff, Aicheria Bell, is a single mom who lives in Des Moines. She trained under hair braiding instructors in Georgia and Texas and completed more than 900 hours of cosmetology school in Minnesota. But that isn't good enough for this state, where she lives in constant fear of being prosecuted.

These women are among thousands of workers victimized by Iowa's job licensing laws. The Iowa Legislature must finally revisit the hundreds of pages of statutes and rules that unnecessarily restrict employment opportunities. Many were originally conceived by workers in an industry trying to prevent new workers from entering the profession. Some have absolutely nothing to do with protecting public health.

And if our leaders continue to ignore the problems with these laws, more legal challenges are likely headed our way.

If history is any guide, Iowa will lose this case

The lawsuit filed against the Iowa Board of Cosmetology Arts and Sciences seeks one dollar in damages for the two plaintiffs. The complaint is not about money. It is about changing an unfair provision in law. If the case does end up going to trail, Iowa will likely lose. The Institute for Justice has filed lawsuits on behalf of hair braiders in several states. Judges declared the statutes unconstitutional in California, Utah and Texas. In other states, including Minnesota, Arkansas and Mississippi, the lawsuits prompted changes in state law before a ruling was issued. The Institute has a challenge pending in Missouri. And now Iowa.

"They tell us black hair is just like white hair," said another student. There were few black clients and the school did not even teach braiding, which is what these women were interested in doing after graduation.

But to legally cut, blow-dry or braid hair in Iowa, state law requires 2,100 hours of training and education— more than double what some states require. Students pay thousands in tuition to cosmetology schools and work for free providing beauty services to clients who also pay the school. Though a dream come true for a for-profit beauty school, it can be a nightmare for students. Many do not finish, leave mired in debt and cannot work in the industry.

Fortunately, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is suing the La' James chain of cosmetology schools, contending they systematically defraud students and leave them so frustrated they quit before graduation. "What many students experience is a school with extraordinary turnover of instructors, resulting in instructorless classrooms and inconsistent instruction, lack of access to practice their skills, and ultimately, an institution that treats them more like free labor than students," according to a lawsuit the Iowa attorney general's office filed in Polk County District Court in August 2014.